Friday, August 12, 2016

Missy Parkin was recently selected to represent Team USA at the Adult PABCON Championships in Cali, Colombia this September. The event features both the Men and Women's teams. Missy is one of six women who will represent the United States in this upcoming event.

Missy previously attended the 2014 PABCON Women's Championships which were also held in Cali, Colombia. At that event, Missy won 4 Gold Medals in Doubles, Trios, Team and Individual All Events and 1 Silver Medal in Masters. She also broke the record in Doubles with Kelly Kulick, in Team event as well as in individual All Events.

Last week, we flew from the Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles event in Houston, straight to the US Women's Open in Chicago. It was arguably the toughest US Open pattern I've ever competed on, counting both the men's and women's US Opens. With one burn squad during qualifying and then having to compete on two other burns squads during matchplay, it meant for challenging conditions overall, which put a premium on shot making, spare shooting and consistency.

We bowled three 8-game blocks of qualifying. The field was then cut to the top 1/3 for 8 more games of the casher's round. The field was then again cut to the top 24 players for 24 games of round robin match play, with 30 bonus pins awarded to the winner of each match and 15 pins awarded for a tie.

I was on B squad and therefore bowled on the burn, meaning that they did not re-oil the lanes after the first squad. I started out using my New Hammer Rebel and shot games of 211, 177, 210 and 181. I then switched to my New Ebonite Warrior Supreme and shot 195, 196, 211 and 226 to finish off the block at +7 overall. This put me in tied for 34th place. Only 39 bowlers out of 142 were plus after the 1st block of qualifying.

The next morning, we competed on fresh oil. I started out with my New Ebonite Game Breaker 2 Phenom and shot games of 189, 210 and 202. Then had a little trouble during the transition shooting 179 and 189. I then switched to my Hammer Rebel and shot 190, 193 and 213 for -28 overall, which put me in 39th place.

I decided to drill another Game Breaker 2 Phenom for the next day's fresh squad. My original one was pin down, so I decided to drill another one pin up in the middle of my grip to give me another option when the lanes transitioned and before my Hammer Rebel would come into play.

I started out strong during Block 3 of qualifying shooting 231 with my pin down Game Breaker 2 Phenom. I then shot 185, 195 and 256. Then struggled again shooting 180 and 165, trying a few different balls, but rebounded and switched back to the pin down Game Breaker 2 Phenom to shoot 211 and 197 to end the block at -8 overall. This jumped me up into 23rd place with only 20 bowlers plus after 24 games of qualifying. The cut to the top 1/3 was -135.

The next morning, I knew I needed another solid block to make it into the top 24 match play finals. I again started out strong shooting 244 with my pin down Game Breaker 2 Phenom. I followed it with a 214, but then struggled shooting 171. I switched to my pin up Game Breaker 2 Phenom and shot 208, 187 and 210. The lanes were brutal towards the end of the block and everyone had already migrated far to the left, similar to how we finished on the burn squad. I shot 167 and brought it back with a 189 for -18 overall. This was enough to make the cut to the top 24 and put me in 21st place with again only 20 bowlers averaging 200 or more in the field.

With no re-oil for the 1st round of match play and everyone already migrating far to the left, I drilled two new balls to make sure I had enough options. I drilled a pin up Track Heat to play inside and a pin up Hammer Arson High Flare Solid in case I needed to try playing out (which was virtually unplayable the entire tournament.)

With the inside option looking bleak, I opted to play out around 7-8 board, even though I had never played right of 14 the entire tournament. It was my best option and I struck with it for the entire round. I ended up going 3-5 the first round, ending the block at +1 which kept me in 21st place.

Playing outside using my Arson High Flare Solid during Round 1 of Match Play

I knew I needed a huge day to both try and make the TV stepladder finals as well as to try and qualify for the top 16 PWBA Tour Championship.

I gave it my all in those 16 games. I lost my first 4 matches in the morning with decent scores and then turned it around and won my last 4 matches, going 4-4 and shooting +73 scratch for the 8 games.

The final round of match play, we again bowled on the burn, as they did not re-oil the lanes. This time I opted to stay inside and played farther left than I've had to play in a very long time, including when bowling with the men. I went 3-5 that round and ended the tournament at +232 finishing in 16th place overall. Although I bowled well and made a big move, it wasn't enough to move me into the PWBA Tour Championship and thus ended my 2016 PWBA Tour Season.

Playing inside using my Warrior Supreme during game 4 when I shot 258.

So over a span of 5 days, 142 bowlers from around the world competed on the grueling US Open pattern. I bowled a total of 56 games, throwing over 1000+ shots (not including practice), averaged 198.79, missed one single pin spare (of all things a 6 pin, which I consider to be my easiest single pin), picked up several splits/tough spares/washouts, had a low game of 154 and a high game of 258.

Am I happy? Yes. Am I proud of how I bowled at the US Open? Absolutely, Yes. Am I disappointed? Also, Yes.

Although, I had a much better second half of the PWBA Tour Season, despite going through a very difficult time in my personal life, I am saddened and disappointed that my 2016 PWBA Tour Season is over. However, I'm using this as motivation for me to work even harder on my game, fix the areas that need fixing and make the areas that are great, even better! Thank you all for following along on my journey! I appreciate your support more than you will ever know.

This tournament is by far one of my favorite events of the
year, not only because I get to bowl with my best friend, but also because it
supports a cause that is very near and dear to my heart. The conditions are
always demanding, the field is always top notch and the tournament is so
prestigious that entries need to be in ASAP or you will not get a spot into the
tournament.

This year, the tournament expanded to 4 squads to
accommodate the high demand. The field was comprised of 152 mixed doubles teams
over 2 separate days of qualifying.

Since Scott and I didn't bowl on Friday, Clara Guerrero and I took the opportunity to hold a clinic that day at 300 Bowl in Conroe, Texas. Thank you to Donnie Daniels for setting this event up! We had a great turnout and everyone said they learned a lot and had a great time.

Scott and I bowled on C squad. Each squad bowled 8 games of
qualifying and the top 38 teams would then advance to the cashers round on
Sunday.

I started out rough, catching a few bad breaks for pocket
splits and then wasn’t able to double and shot 159. Scott held me up shooting
203. After game 3, we were collectively -73 (I was -79) and in dire straights
of needing a few solid games.

So we dug our heels in and grinded. I switched to my New
Hammer Rebel and Track Paradox Pearl and shot 209, 214, 197 and 226. Scott shot
games of 208, 214, 173 and 199 using his New Track Heat Xtreme, Cyborg and
Black Legion.

Going into the last game, we were -33 and in need of a big
finish to make the cut.We put our game
faces on and bowled really well! I had a strike in the 9th and got
the first strike in the 10th frame to shoot 231. Scott threw all
three strikes in the 10th frame to shoot 216 for a team game of 447,
which put us at +14 overall. I managed to climb my way back to -2 and Scott
shot steady all day for +16.We squeezed
our way into the top 38 cut, which ended up taking -6.

The next day, we only had four games to try and make our way
to the top 8 teams. With roughly 135 pins to catch up, we knew we had our work
cut out for us, but we were determined to try our best.

We started out strong shooting 214 and 235 for 449. We
bowled really well the next 2 games, but couldn’t seem to find the carry fairy
and shot 393 both games. Sitting at +49 going into the final game, we knew we
needed a massive last game to have a chance at the top 8. We again put our game
faces on, but unfortunately didn’t carry enough and shot 236 and 204 for 440
and +89 overall, which was not enough to advance.

HUGE thank you to Donna Conners, Jim Welch, Dino Castillo
and the entire staff of Palace Lanes for running another excellent event. The
best part is that through this tournament over $90,000 was raised for breast
cancer awareness!

Can’t wait until next year!

Now it’s on to the US Open in Addison, IL. Be sure to follow
along all week to www.xtraframe.tv